The Cafeteria
by HollywoodGirlxx
Summary: The Cullens and Hales views of the cafeteria the day Isabella Swan arrives at Forks High School.
1. Jasper

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, reviews are much appreciated and comments heeded.

Speech has been used from _Midnight Sun _by Stephenie Meyer.

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****Chapter One – Jasper**

I was trying very hard not to breathe. All the delicious, blood filled humans around me were severely testing my restraint. My brothers and sister, and my beloved Alice, were sat around me, but they did not seem to be having the same problems. I tried very hard not to look around at the mortals sitting so very close. I glanced at the table, pressing my lips together and clenching my fists. I could sense Alice's distress on my behalf, and I knew she would be sharing her worries with Edward. He was probably reading my mind now. I tried very hard to put all thoughts of the surrounding humans out of my mind so Edward and Alice would not worry.

Just as I had managed to concentrate on the smell of the forest as oppose to the smell of blood, a human moved to stand next to our table. She had sandy hair and pale skin, but that was not what captured my attention. The heaters in the cafeteria blew her scent over to our table. That was all that needed to occur for my true character to come to life. My muscles tightened, I was ready to spring. Her scent was delicious, but any scent to me was delicious, especially now. I had not hunted for two weeks, and I was thirsty. I imagined myself brushing the girl's hair from her neck, bending down, sinking my venom-coated teeth into her skin, breaking through the veins and bathing my throat in the warm crimson liquid...

I felt my chair move, and that brought me back to reality. Edward was glaring at me, eyes narrowed meaningfully.

"Sorry," I said. Shame took over as the dominant emotion in my body. I was horrified at myself. I thought I was able to control my thirst better than that. But it had been too long, much too long.

"You weren't going to do anything," Alice said, her cool breath tickling my cheek. "I could see that."

I tasted Edward's emotions. Alice was keeping something from me. But I trusted her. I had to trust her.

"It helps if you think of them as people," Alice said in her beautiful voice, even more beautiful to me. "Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"

I hated it when she did that. I hated feeling that I was letting her down. I loved Alice, and I didn't want to hurt her. "I know who she is," I replied, taking out my anger on her. I regretted it instantly. I'm always angry when I'm thirsty, but I'm rarely angry with my wonderful Alice.

I stared out of one of the windows, turning away from Alice so I couldn't hurt her any more. After a few minutes, Alice left. She could tell I wasn't responding well to her encouragement. I watched her go out of the corner of my eye. Her little figure danced gracefully off, but only I could tell how upset she was. I could tell by the way her back was stiffened, and the way her step wasn't as light as it usually is, although she was still more graceful than anyone else in this room, vampire or mortal.

Alice and I know each other's moods extremely well. Even without my extra sense I would be able to read Alice's mood. Alice is my true soulmate. Sometimes, when I am angry with her, I think to myself how lucky I am to have someone as wonderful as her, and how sorry I am. I honestly do not know what I would do without Alice. She is my life.

I could hear Edward and Emmett talking to each other under their breath, but I ignored them, filling my thoughts instead with Alice.

After a few more minutes, Rosalie - the vain and shallow Rosalie - said, "Shall we?"

Together, we rose and walked out of the cafeteria. Edward and Emmett were still whispering, and I deciphered it was about the new addition to the school. Emmett was finding out if she was scared of us yet. After Edward left us, we walked together to our next classes. Emmett was in every one of my classes, and I wasn't stupid enough not to realise he was in all of my classes so he could keep an eye on me and if necessary, remove me from the classroom if I became a danger to the children around me. I laughed inwardly. I was _always_ a danger to the children around me.


	2. Rosalie

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, reviews are much appreciated and comments heeded.

Speech has been used from _Midnight Sun _by Stephenie Meyer.

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****Chapter Two – Rosalie**

I held the spoon a little way from my face, and examined it closely. In the round part of the spoon, I could see my pale face surrounded by billowing clouds of molten gold. My dark eyes emphasized my translucent skin perfectly, although I abhorred the dark circles underneath my eyes. They made me look like I had not got a good night's sleep in a few weeks – which, obviously, I had not. I moaned to myself silently. The bruises were the only things that ruined my otherwise beautiful face. I was inwardly so very glad I could have a reflection in a window, or a piece of cutlery. I do not know what I would do without a reflection. It was terrible when I discovered I could not see myself in a mirror any longer. I nearly died. Well, technically I _did_ die, but only as a human. Reflections are one of the hardest things to live without. I need to know how beautiful I am every second of the day. I am not a shallow person; I simply know that without my looks I would be nowhere. My beauty is my USP; I am not ashamed to admit that.

Glancing up from the stunning face in the spoon, I caught sight of my reflection again, in my brother Edward's glass. Once again I was struck by my own perfection. A slight movement from Edward captured my attention. His forehead was slightly caught up in a frown. I guessed he had probably been exercising his mind-reading, and knew he was annoyed with my near-constant obsession with my looks. I tried not to mind, but it was extremely frustrating to know my thoughts were being read by another person. I preferred, if possible, to keep my thoughts to myself, and only donate my opinion when I felt most strongly about something. Which was, actually, rather a lot of the time.

Edward turned his head slowly. He was examining the wall. I glanced around at my family. Jasper was tense, fists clenched. Alice was sitting nervously next to Jasper – I knew she would be worrying how he was holding up. Jasper has the most problems with being a vampire; he needs to feed more often. Personally, I think we should feed more than we do. I have not fed for nearly two weeks, and I was suffering for it, only not in the way Jasper was. I peeked at my reflection again in the spoon: perfect and blonde – I loved it. As my eyes moved across to Emmett, I smiled widely. Emmett was my soulmate. I loved him more than anything else in this world, including my beauty, which was saying something. I saved my husband from a bear, and I am so glad I did. The world is a much nicer place with Emmett by my side.

My eyes caressed his face. He wore an expression of disgust. His curly brown hair lay flat on his head, with just a few bits falling over his face. I longed to reach over and touch them, but I would have to wait until I was alone with him. His dark eyes were brooding. He was annoyed, I knew, about losing his fight with Jasper. He had confided in me after it, and I had comforted him. To some people, Emmett was terrifying, but he was not to me. He was a deep person inside, not like me. In some ways we were exact opposites, but that made us even more perfect for one another. No matter what happens in this world, I will stay by Emmett until I take my dying breath – _if_ I take my dying breath. I would willingly die for him.

A jolt next to me alerted me to Jasper's discomfort. Jasper was staring at Edward in shock, and I realised Edward was the cause of the jolt.

"Sorry," Jasper whispered.

"You weren't going to do anything," Alice soothed. "I could see that." She paused, thinking over her next words. "It helps if you think of them as people. Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"

Jasper shifted angrily. "I know who she is," he snapped.

I raised my eyebrows a fraction, then smoothed my forehead quickly as Jasper looked past me, out of the window. Things must be bad if Jasper was angry with Alice. Alice pushed back her chair and glided away. Jasper's face creased with guilt.

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan," Edward said in an undertone to Emmett after a few minutes.

Emmett merely chuckled and didn't reply, but Edward did, so I assumed Edward was reading Emmett's thoughts. I hated it when he did that. I did not like being left out of the conversation.

"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of a scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed," was Edward's reply.

They were silent for another few minutes. I concentrated on the voices around me, listening to all the inane chatter, distracting myself, rather unsuccessfully from my reflection. Edward's forehead creased into a frown. Emmett met my eyes, and I felt a bolt of electricity going through me. Emmett never failed to do that to me. I didn't know if I did the same to him, but I could hope, couldn't I?

I cleared my throat, distracting myself from Emmett's amused eyes. "Shall we?"I asked, pushing back my chair and picking up my still full lunch tray.

The others nodded, and followed suit. We walked out of the cafeteria, leaving Edward to go to Biology alone. Edward and Alice looked younger than the rest of us; therefore they pretended to be juniors, whereas Emmett, Jasper and I took on the roles of senior students. Before I turned to go to my next class, my fingers met Emmett's briefly, and he smiled at me as he walked away with Jasper. I pushed open the doors to my room and slipped inside. I had French now, and I wished with all my unbeating heart I could fall asleep faster than you could say _"Voulez-vous dormir?"_


	3. Emmett

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, reviews are much appreciated and comments heeded.

Speech has been used from _Midnight Sun _by Stephenie Meyer.

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****Chapter Three – Emmett**

_I gave him an uppercut to his jaw, then he… what did he do? He must have cheated – there was no other way he could have possibly beaten me, _I thought to myself. I furrowed my brow, thinking over last night's wrestling match with Jasper. I needed to organize a rematch. Jasper could not beat me. He must have used his tricky emotion manipulator to make me tired or not as strong. That must be it. Jasper could not beat me.

I glared at him, sitting there in front of me. He had his fists clenched tightly, and Alice was looking at him worriedly. I knew what was wrong with him. He was too thirsty, and in amongst all the humans, he was having a hard time resisting their blood. I transferred my glance to Edward. He was carefully avoiding Alice's eyes; which obviously meant they were having a conversation in their minds. He moved his head to the right, staring at the wall. Rosalie was staring at me, a wide smile crossing her seraphic face.

Whenever I look at Rosalie, I see my saviour; the angel who rescued me from a bear. In the short time that I was a human, I fell in love with Rosalie. My expression smoothed as I gazed at her face. Her blonde hair billowed around her head. Rosalie was truly an angel. Jasper shifted slightly in his chair, and my thoughts instantly transferred back to our fight last night. I needed to beat him, to put him in his place. He had been unbearable all day. Rosalie had reassured me that Jasper must have cheated, but it didn't stop the annoyance rising each time Jasper looked my way with his arrogant smile. Jasper suddenly moved violently, and Rosalie stared at him in surprise. I felt Edward glaring at Jasper warningly.

"Sorry," Jasper said glumly. _I will beat him tonight, _I thought abruptly.

"You weren't going to do anything," said Alice, touching his arm gently. "I could see that." She watched him carefully as she spoke. "It helps if you think of them as people. Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"

"I know who she is," Jasper snapped at little Alice.

Alice looked away, sadly, half in hurt surprise. After a few more minutes, with a worried expression, she rose and waltzed out of the cafeteria. Jasper looked angry and upset with himself.

Edward leaned in to me once we had watched Alice dance away. "Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirty laundry on the Cullen clan," he whispered.

I laughed quietly. _I hope she's making it good._

"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of a scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed," Edward said.

_And the new girl? _I thought. _Is she disappointed in the gossip as well?_

Edward didn't reply. I glanced across to Rosalie again. Her dark eyes met mine, and she started minutely. I smiled at my angel, communicating my plans for tonight with my gaze. Her lips twitched at the corners, and she coughed quietly.

"Shall we?" she asked, avoiding my eyes.

En masse, we stood and walked out of the cafeteria, dropping our uneaten food into the bins on the way out.

I looked sideways at Edward. "So, is the new one afraid of us yet?" I asked, repeating my earlier question.

He shrugged, and I dropped the matter, not interested enough to press the subject further. I would find out soon enough, and I knew she would be afraid of us. All the students are afraid of us, although they cannot understand why. It is a subconscious warning in their heads, telling them to avoid us. They are sensible if they heed that warning, and of course all of them do.

I had all my lessons with Jasper, so I could not escape him for another two hours. I groaned inwardly; this was going to be a living nightmare. Before Rosalie turned to go, I touched her hand gently and smiled at her. I watched as she glided, more graceful and beautiful than a ballerina, into her next lesson. Jasper gave me a wicked grin as we walked to class. A growl raked against my throat, and I knew he had heard. _Not long now, _I thought. _Not long Jasper, and then you'll be sorry._


	4. Alice

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, reviews are much appreciated and comments heeded.

Speech has been used from _Midnight Sun _by Stephenie Meyer.

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**Chapter Four – Alice**

I skimmed ahead into the future. Not a long way, just enough to see if Jasper made it through the day. At the moment he seemed like he would. But I had to make sure.

_Edward, _I said in my head. Edward did not turn, but kept his eyes carefully fixed on the wall. _How is he holding up? _I asked.

Edward frowned a little. I became alarmed, and knew it would not escape Jasper's attention. _Is there any danger?_

I glanced sideways at Jasper, and continued to search into the future for any cause of Edward's frown. He turned his head slightly to the left and a few seconds later to the right. He was shaking his head, privately. I relaxed, but my mind continued to whir. I hated Jasper suffering, and I knew he was suffering now. We had not hunted for two weeks, which was a struggle for the rest of us but unbearable for Jasper. His golden head was bowed, his hands balled into tight fists. I shifted my chair closer to him, longing to comfort him. I tried to calm myself, wanting him to absorb my cool emotions so he would not be more stressed than he already was. We should not allow him to wait for so long between hunts. I knew I would need to go hunting with him tonight, possibly for all of the night. Jasper had lower limits than the rest of us. He could not withstand the thirst for as long without a great inner fight.

A sandy haired girl came to stand next to our table. Her scent wafted over us. It made the venom rise in my throat, but I could control it. Jasper, however, could not. I saw him, in my vision, sliding his chair back and bending down to that girl, slicing through her neck with his sharp teeth. Edward glared at Jasper, and kicked his chair violently. The vision evaporated. Jasper's face fell. He wanted to endure the thirst, but he could not always do it.

"Sorry," he said, apologetically.

"You weren't going to do anything," I said, leaning towards him slightly, offering him my comfort. "I could see that." Edward grimaced slightly, and I frowned warningly at him

"It helps if you think of them as people," I continued. "Her name is Whitney. She has a baby sister she adores. Her mother invited Esme to that garden party, do you remember?"

His forehead creased in anger. "I know who she is," he bit out in frustration.

My face fell. I had pushed him too far. I always push him too far when he is hungry. I knew he didn't mean to snap at me, but it still hurt. I bent my head to examine my uneaten apple and soda. I blocked my thoughts from my brother. I did not want anyone to know how much I regretted saying that to Jasper, or how much his rage hurt me. After a few minutes, I could not last any longer. I slid my chair back, quickly, and stood up, striding out of the cafeteria.

I walked around to the benches at the front of the school. Edward's Volvo was parked to my left. How I wished I could get in and drive home. Or better still, run away. But what was stopping me. There was no-one around, they were all inside in the warmth, escaping the cold January day. I trotted over to the forest, and set off running. The forest wasn't that big, but I could still run a long way. I followed it until it ended, and then spun around, running back. The run cleared my head, blowing away all the guilt and upset my conversation with Jasper had caused. Sitting back on the bench I had only vacated approximately five minutes ago, I filled my head with thoughts of Jasper.

I remembered the day I had met Jasper in a forest in Virginia. He was tall and blond, and suffering. I spoke to him, told him how I had seen him in a vision and knew where we were headed. I fell in love with him then, and I have not been apart from him since. Jasper was strong, I knew that, but his willpower was not. He needed to work on that. He had been a vampire for a long time, and for the first decades of his new life, he lived in amongst other vampires who did not follow our 'vegetarian' diet. I think if he had started life on a diet of animal's blood, he would have found it easier now to resist the temptation of human blood.

I skimmed ahead again, fleetingly following my siblings' futures. Nothing of interest happened in Rosalie's or Emmett's. But something caught my mind's eye. Something occurred between Edward and the new student, Isabella Swan. Something important, and something dangerous. She seemed in my vision to be afraid, and Edward seemed to be enraged. But I could not see further than that. I discarded it from my mind, concentrating my focus on Jasper. He was holding up as far as I could see, but he could make new decisions that would change that. I knew Emmett would keep him safe, and if anything drastic happened, I would see it. I had to rely on that.

As the bell rang, I set off for my next lesson. The strange vision of Edward and Isabella flickered on the edges of my consciousness. I could not explain it, nor could I explain the feeling of anxiety that washed over me as I examined the vision again. Something was going to happen today, but for once, I did not know what.


End file.
